


Fortune Cookie, The

by mcgarrygirl78



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-12-03
Updated: 2006-12-03
Packaged: 2019-05-31 10:15:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,957
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15117275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcgarrygirl78/pseuds/mcgarrygirl78
Summary: Sam watched wide-eyed as his closest friend hugged the girl he thought might be his girlfriend.





	Fortune Cookie, The

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

  
Author's notes: While the soap opera Capitol is real, the character of Atisha Granville-Holmes is from my imagination.  


* * *

There was a light tap on Sam’s door and he looked up from his reading. The clock next to his desk lamp said 8:17.

“Come in.”

“Hey there.”

“Tish!”

Sam got up from his desk, meeting her halfway. They shared a light kiss and they both smiled. It had been nearly six weeks since his photo shoot. They had dinner that Sunday night, which led to Monday morning. Both of them were so busy with work that they only managed to see each other once since that dinner. Tish dragged him out to a showing of Coffy at Howard University’s Black Cinema Thursdays…she was a Pam Grier freak.

Sam missed her but there was much work to be done at the White House and he didn’t have time for more than phone calls. It was not as if Tish sat waiting by her phone. She had been to London, New York City, Aspen, and even Bangor, Maine on photo shoots and trips.

“I figured you would be too busy to remember to eat, so I brought it to you.” She held up a red plastic bag.

“What did you bring me?” Sam held his hands behind his back, smiling like an eager little boy.

“Chicken and broccoli, steamed dumplings, and stir fry vegetables made with teriyaki sauce. Plus, a surprise.”

“A surprise?”

“Fountain cherry soda; the kind you like.”

“Oh wow, this is great.”

“So it definitely deserves a better kiss than that peck on the lips, huh?”

Nodding, Sam put his arms around her and kissed her properly. He was not sure if such behavior was appropriate in the White House but he was behind a closed office door and for once the blinds separating his office from Toby’s were closed. They pulled apart, and Tish spread the blue blanket she was carrying under her arm. Sam smiled as he grabbed the small radio from his bookshelf; a few love songs would definitely set the mood.

“I probably would have forgotten to eat.” He said. “I just get so busy.”

“What are you working on? Or is it top secret?”

“No. Its tax credit for parents who take out loans for their children’s higher education. I'm up to my neck in paperwork.”

“Everything is paperwork…how do you get anything done?”

“We don’t really.”

Tish laughed, sipping her Diet Coke. They looked at each other and wanted so much more than a picnic dinner. She leaned to kiss him but they were interrupted by Josh, who didn’t think knocking was necessary.

“Whoa, I'm sorry, I thought you were alone.”

“If you had knocked you would have known otherwise. What do you need?”

“I wanted to stop by and see how the tax credit thing was going. I also was going to ask you if you wanted pizza, but I guess you don’t.” he held out his hand. “I'm Josh Lyman.”

“I know that.”

“Do we know each other?” he asked.

“You don’t remember me Josh? How many women have there been? Tish McTiernan.”

“Oh my God. Tish? When did you go and grow up? Wow! Gimme a hug.”

Sam watched wide-eyed as his closest friend hugged the girl he thought might be his girlfriend. Josh kissed her cheek.

“The last time I saw you, you'd just graduated from Northwestern. Your father’s chest was poked out so far we thought he would tip over. Sam, you didn’t tell me you knew Tish.”

“Um, I didn’t know you two knew each other. Josh, could you leave us alone for a few…I need to talk to Tish.”

“Sure.” Josh nodded. “It was good to see you. Tell your father I said hello.”

“I will, definitely.”

Josh smiled, leaving the office. Sam studied her intensely and Tish held up to the scrutiny.

“Sam, I wanted to talk to you about all of that. I didn’t expect to see Josh tonight though I knew he worked here.”

“Just tell me what you need to tell me.”

“Senator Ted McTiernan is my father.” She said.

“What? I don’t mean to be completely ignorant…”

“My biological father was a St. Paul police officer, killed in the line of duty when I was seven months old. My mother met Ted McTiernan at a DNC luncheon six months later and they got close quickly. They married right after my second birthday and he adopted me. I never meant to deceive you; I fully intended to tell you. I just never want my father and his job to affect how I live my life. I also don’t want anymore friends based strictly on my last name.”

Sam didn’t say anything for a while. Then he ran his fingers through his hair.

“Please say something.” Tish said.

“At least he’s a Democrat.”

“He is.” Tish smiled. “I was going to tell you everything but it got so hectic and we have hardly been together these past six weeks.”

“I don’t care Tish. Well, I care but its not going to matter one bit when it comes to what we have.”

“Its not?”

“It shouldn’t. Are you trying to escape your family?”

Tish loved her family. The McTiernans were the typical tight-knit Irish Catholic family from St. Paul. Even when they all moved to Washington, DC over 20 years ago for her father to join the Senate that didn't change. When her 11-year-old brother Teddy disappeared from a Georgetown street on his way home from a peewee football game and was never seen again, it didn’t change. Tish loved her parents and her life; she just had no desire only being defined as the Senator’s daughter. She wanted to walk her own path, and Ted and Melinda McTiernan not only understood that, they fostered it.

Ted bought her her first camera at age six; built her a dark room in their suburban DC home when he realized how passionate she was about her art. Even after Teddy disappeared and the McTiernans put their five remaining children under Secret Service protection, the Senator and his wife, who took a prominent position with the Center for Missing and Exploited Children, let Tish travel around the country with the photography club at Georgetown Day School. 

When she graduated all her parents asked was that she attend college, despite her desire to move to London and take photos full time. Tish agreed, spending the summer traveling Europe with friends and her camera. She decided on Northwestern University and loved Chicago and all the choices she’d made since.

“OK, so a girl obsessed with photography studies critical theory and social policy.” Sam said.

“I knew what I wanted to do so I decided to study something new and interesting to me. My father was stoked…he figured if photography fell through I could come into the family business.”

“You had no intention though?”

“Well, I thought I would have something to fall back on just in case. Activism was something I was always getting into while in secondary school and at Northwestern. All I ever dreamed of doing is taking pictures. Have you ever been to my father’s office on the Hill?”

“No.”

“All the photography was done by me. He and mom are my biggest fans.”

Sam smiled when she did. He was the only child and didn’t get half as much love and support as she did. One of six that was a pretty big group. Especially with that happened to her brother. The case of Edward McTiernan, Jr. was well known. Senator’s children didn’t disappear everyday.

“I can get used to you being a Senator’s daughter as long as you can get used to my being a forgetful workaholic.” He said.

Tish bit her lip, looking at him.

“Forgetful workaholics can change.” She replied. “With the appropriate help.”

“Are you appropriate?” Sam asked.

“Only when I need to be.”

She kissed him, and this time nothing interrupted it.

“One more thing.” 

“Anything Sam.”

“Is your name really Tish? I've never heard it anywhere.”

“Oh God, I knew that was going to come around. It’s Atisha. My mother, a wonderful woman whom I adore, had a moment of absolute insanity most likely caused by epidural. She named me after the first African-American diva on the soap operas, Atisha Granville-Holmes on Capitol. I became Tish as soon as I could.”

“A soap diva?”

“Yeah, like Viki, Rachel, or Erica…my mother loved that soap.”

Sam laughed, though it was certainly not derisive laughter. This woman almost seemed larger than life. She was definitely living up to the name her mother picked out for her. When he had a few free minutes he would Google Atisha Granville-Holmes.

“So, that’s my story. What's yours, Sam Seaborn?”

“It is long and rather boring.”

“I still want to hear it.” Tish replied.

“Yeah, I know. We will talk about it.”

“That gives me something to look forward to.”

“That’s all you have to look forward to with me?” Sam raised an eyebrow.

He loved the cranberry color that rose from her neck to her cheeks. Sam loved to see a woman blush; it was rare these days. It was hard to find humility in the nation’s capital on the Eve of the 21st century.

“Definitely not all, but it will be the best I get sitting on a blanket in your office. How much convincing will it take to get you out of here tonight?”

Sam wanted to finish this reading before he left and he told her so. Still, the night didn’t have to be a complete wash. He loved the idea of coming to her place after he was done at the White House. Six weeks apart was a long time.

“I can handle a little Dark Shadows tonight.” Tish replied.

“What?”

“That’s what my friend Emily calls it. Her boyfriend works on the Hill and he comes home at the craziest hours. She says he sneaks into her bedroom like Barnabas Collins from Dark Shadows.”

“The TV show comparison thing must be a girl thing.” Sam said.

“Must be.” She tossed him a fortune cookie.” “Open yours.”

Sam smiled, pulling off the plastic and cracking the cookie. EVERYTHING YOU NEED IS WITHIN HAND’S REACH. He showed it to her, liking the way she smiled. Tish opened hers and laughed, showing it to Sam. THE TIME HAS COME TO TAKE A LEAP. 

“What do you think of that?” she asked.

“Very interesting indeed.”

They both started to clean up dinner; Tish folded her blanket. She stuck it under her arm again.

“So, I’ll see you later?”

“In a couple of hours.”

Tish threw her arms around his neck, letting the blanket drop to the floor. Sam closed his eyes as her nose brushed his. The kiss was slow, sensual; her tongue tasted of chicken and diet soda. Sam pulled her closer to him.

“I promise not to come here too often and have you break the rules of etiquette at your job.” Tish said when the kisses ended. “I know this office is sacred to you.”

“It is, but you are always welcome.”

Sam kissed her quickly once more and Tish grabbed the blanket.

“Later gator.” She did a little wave.

“Bye.”

She walked out and Sam fell back into his leather chair. Whoo, that woman was something else. Yeah, she was the daughter of the Senate Minority Whip. He put his hand over his heart; it was beating faster than usual. Tish was certainly a force to be reckoned with. Sam didn’t know if he could handle her but if he fell and she devoured him, that didn’t seem so bad either.

***


End file.
